COVID-19 has rapidly become a global challenge. 1 We read with interest the article by Bezzio et al 1 that reported the characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 patients with pre-existing IBD. Patients with pre-existing cirrhosis, who have immune dysfunction and poorer outcomes from acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) than patients without cirrhosis, are also considered a high-risk population for COVID-19. 2 3 In previous studies, the proportion of COVID-19 patients with pre-existing liver conditions ranged from 2% to 11%. 2 However, the clinical course and risk factors for mortality in these patients has not yet been reported. This retrospective multicentre study (COVID-Cirrhosis-CHESS, ClinicalTrials. gov NCT04329559) included consecutive adult patients with laboratory-confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and pre-existing cirrhosis from 16 designated hospitals in China between 31 December 2019 and 24 March 2020. Patient characteristics are summarised in table 1. Twenty-one COVID-19 patients with preexisting cirrhosis (Child-Pugh class A, B and C in 16, 3 and 2 patients, respectively) were included in the analysis. The median age was 68 years; 11 (52.4%) were male. Most patients had compensated cirrhosis (81.0%) and chronic HBV infection was the most common aetiology (57.1%). Comorbidities other than cirrhosis were present in most patients (66.7%). In previous studies, older age, male sex and pre-existing comorbidities were associated with higher risk of mortality for COVID-19. 4 5 Here, there were no significant differences between survivors (n=16) and non-survivors (n=5) in age, sex, comorbidities, aetiology of cirrhosis, stage of cirrhosis, Child-Pugh class, Model for End-stage Liver Disease (MELD) score, interval between onset and admission, or onset symptoms of COVID-19. Comorbidities have been associated with adverse outcomes in cirrhosis, 6 but our analysis did not show clear prognostic associations-possibly due to the small size and narrow composition of the study population.

medRxiv preprint 6 datasets. The predictive performance was further evaluated in test dataset on lung lobe-and patients-level. Main outcomesShort-term hospital stay (≤10 days) and long-term hospital stay (>10 days). ResultsThe CT radiomics models based on 6 second-order features were effective in discriminating short-and long-term hospital stay in patients with pneumonia associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection, with areas under the curves of 0.97 (95%CI 0.83-1.0) and 0.92 (95%CI 0.67-1.0) by LR and RF, respectively, in the test dataset. The LR model showed a sensitivity and specificity of 1.0 and 0.89, and the RF model showed similar performance with sensitivity and specificity of 0.75 and 1.0 in test dataset. ConclusionsThe machine learning-based CT radiomics models showed feasibility and accuracy for predicting hospital stay in patients with pneumonia associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection.All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. Results Patient characteristicsA total of 52 patients with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection and initial CT images were enrolled from 5 designated hospitals in Ankang, Lishui, Zhenjiang, Lanzhou, and Linxia, China. As of February 20, 14 patients were still hospitalized, and 7 patients had non-findings in CT images. Therefore, 31 patients with 72 lesion segments were included in the final analysis. The training and inter-validation cohort comprised 26 patients (12 from Ankang, 8 from Lishui, 4 from Lanzhou, and 2 from Linxia) with 59 lesion segments, and test cohort comprised 5 patients from Zhenjiang with 13 lesion segments. The median age was 38.00 (interquartile range, 26.00-47.00) years and 17 (57%) were male. Comorbidities, symptoms and laboratory findings at admission were summarized in Table 1. Performance of CT radiomics modelThe CT radiomics model, based on 6 features (supplementary Table1), showed the highest AUC on the training and inter-validation dataset. The performance of modeling using LR and RF methods was shown in Figure 2. On lung lobe-level, models using LR method significantly distinguished short-and long-term hospital stay (In training and inter-validation datasets, cut-off value 0.31, AUC 0.94 (95%CI 0.92-0.97), sensitivity 1.0, specificity 0.87, NPV 1.0, and PPV 0.88; In test dataset, AUC 0.97 (95%CI 0.83-1.0), sensitivity 1.0, specificity 0.89, NPV 1.0, and PPV 0.8). Besides, models using RF method obtained satisfied results (In training and inter-validation datasets, cut-off value 0.68, AUC 1.0 (95%CI 1.0-1.0), All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity.

consultation; and (iii) establish a short-term web-based followup to define drug efficacy and adapt treatment accordingly. Thus, in this particular situation the diagnosis of AIH may be given without histology, if typical biochemical and serological results are followed by a convincing treatment response. Prove of the diagnosis can be undertaken later, either by a relapse upon therapy reduction, or a follow-up liver biopsy when conditions are safer. As already reported in China, 8 advanced liver cirrhosis and decompensated patients can be monitored with a webbased system and all non-urgent medical visits should be postponed until the emergency is over. Urgent procedures (i.e. paracentesis) should be organised using a COVID-19-free path in the hospital, another COVID-19-free facility or home care. Finally, we recommend strict adherence to standard social distancing protocols and social isolation and emphasise, in cirrhotic patients, the importance of vaccination for Streptococcus pneumoniae and seasonal flu and of reinforcing social distancing measures. Further data are needed in order to demonstrate the real impact of COVID-19 infection in immunocompromised patients. Until then, and while vaccination is not available, we suggest continuing a cautious approach during low-level seasonal persistence of COVID-19 in the years to come.Although we cannot currently evaluate the efficacy of our management protocol, we believe this framework might be a useful tool for management of AILD for the time being.

Hypervirulent variants of Klebsiella pneumoniae (hvKp) that cause invasive community-acquired pyogenic liver abscess (PLA) have emerged globally. Little is known about the virulence determinants associated with hvKp, except for the virulence genes rmpA/A2 and siderophores (iroBCD/iucABCD) carried by the pK2044-like large virulence plasmid. Here, we collected most recent clinical isolates of hvKp from PLA samples in China, and performed clinical, molecular, and genomic sequencing analyses. We found that 90.9% (40/44) of the pathogens causing PLA were K. pneumoniae. Among the 40 LA-Kp, K1 (62.5%), and K2 (17.5%) were the dominant serotypes, and ST23 (47.5%) was the major sequence type. S1-PFGE analyses demonstrated that although 77.5% (31/40) of the LA-Kp isolates harbored a single large virulence plasmid varied in size, 5 (12.5%) isolates had no plasmid and 4 (10%) had two or three plasmids. Whole genome sequencing and comparative analysis of 3 LA-Kp and 3 non-LA-Kp identified 133 genes present only in LA-Kp. Further, large scale screening of the 133 genes in 45 LA-Kp and 103 non-LA-Kp genome sequences from public databases identified 30 genes that were highly associated with LA-Kp, including iroBCD, iucABCD and rmpA/A2 and 21 new genes. Then, these 21 new genes were analyzed in 40 LA-Kp and 86 non-LA-Kp clinical isolates collected in this study by PCR, showing that new genes were present 80–100% among LA-Kp isolates while 2–11% in K. pneumoniae isolates from sputum and urine. Several of the 21 genes have been proposed as virulence factors in other bacteria, such as the gene encoding SAM-dependent methyltransferase and pagO which protects bacteria from phagocytosis. Taken together, these genes are likely new virulence factors contributing to the hypervirulence phenotype of hvKp, and may deepen our understanding of virulence mechanism of hvKp.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a global challenge since the December 2019. The hospital stay is one of the prognostic indicators, and its predicting model based on CT radiomics features is important for assessing the patients' clinical outcome. The study aimed to develop and test machine learning-based CT radiomics models for predicting hospital stay in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia.Methods: This retrospective, multicenter study enrolled patients with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection and their initial CT images from 5 designated hospitals in Ankang,

Background: Drug-refractory secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) is the most common complication in patients with chronic renal failure (CRF). Although surgery is the most effective and safe method for drug-refractory SHPT, the condition may persist or recur after the primary surgery, and reoperation is often required in these patients. The purpose of our current study was to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of reoperation for drug-refractory SHPT. Methods:The clinical data of 15 patients requiring reoperation after a surgery for drug-refractory SHPT in our hospital from 2010 to 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. Changes in biochemical markers including intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH), blood calcium (Ca), blood phosphorus (P), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and blood calcium phosphorus product (Ca*P) were compared before and after the surgery, and the effectiveness and complications of the reoperation were summarized. Results:The reoperation was successful in all the 15 patients after a single attempt. Routine pathological examinations identified a total of 25 parathyroid glands, of which 10 were in the neck in situ, 5 were ectopic in the neck, and 10 were in the forearm. The ectopic parathyroid glands were located inside the thyroid gland (n=1), anterior superior mediastinum (n=1), or thymus (n=3). Surgical treatment significantly improved clinical symptoms such as skin pruritus and bone pain. Blood iPTH, Ca, P, ALP, and Ca*P were significantly reduced (P<0.05 or P<0.01) after surgery. Hypothyroidism occurred in 1 patient; 4 patients undergoing orthotopic neck surgery developed transient hoarseness, which were alleviated within 6 months; no severe complications such as bleeding or death were noted. No recurrence occurred during the 6-month follow-up.Conclusions: Reoperation is safe and effective for drug-refractory SHPT. Preoperative imaging should be performed to achieve accurate positioning, and the recurrent laryngeal nerve should be closely monitored during surgery. The purpose of the reoperation is to remove all possible parathyroid tissues to avoid recurrence.

The key to the liver hanging manoeuvre is to develop the retrohepatic tunnel. However, our study showed that it is not absolutely avascular. During the blind dissection, there is a chance of damaging a retrohepatic vein. This may result in troublesome haemorrhage within the confines of the tunnel. Video-assisted dissection of this region may help in visualisation, and hence control, in order to avoid bleeding.

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the antiviral efficacy of lopinavir/ritonavir alone or combined with arbidol in the treatment of hospitalized patients with common coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19). Methods: In this retrospective observational study, COVID-19 hospitalized patients were identified and divided into two groups based on the antiviral agents used during their hospitalization. Group-LR patients were treated with single antiviral drug of lopinavir-ritonavir. Group-LR+Ar patients were treated with lopinavir-ritonavir combined with arbidol for antiviral therapy at least 3 days. Patients were assessed for different clinical outcomes. Results: A total of 34 and 39 patients were identified for Group-LR and Group-LR+Ar, respectively. Treatment with lopinavir-ritonavir alone was not difference from lopinavir-ritonavir combined with arbidol in overall cure rate of COVID-19 hospitalized patients (92.3% and 97.1%, respectively). In a modified intention-to-treat analysis, lopinavir-ritonavir combined with abidol led to a median time of hospital stay that was shorter by 1.5 days than group-LR (12.5 days vs. 14 days). The percentages of COVID-19 RNA clearance was 92.3 in group-LR and 97.1 in group-LR+Ar. The mean time of virus turning negative was 11.5 plus-or-minus sign 9.0 days in group-LR+Ar that were longer than group-LR. Treatment of lopinavir-ritonavir combined with arbidol did not significantly accelerate main symptoms improvement and promote the image absorption of pulmonary inflammation. Conclusion: No benefit was observed in the anti-virus effect of lopinavir-ritonavir combined with arbidol compared with lopinavir-ritonavir alone in the hospitalized patients with COVID-19. More clinical observations in COVID-19 patients may help to confirm or exclude the effect of antiviral agents.